Our Purpose

Expecting more from our food

It is increasingly clear that our global food system is in need of repair and requires a more sustainable path forward. As a result, many of us are giving more thought to what we eat and drink—and understanding how it impacts our health, the environment and the communities around us. We make decisions with the long-view of future generations in mind to benefit people and the planet.

The food we choose to nourish ourselves and our families becomes an extension of each of us and our values. Rightly, we expect companies and brands to be authentic and transparent in answering: where, how and by whom is my food grown, sourced, prepared and distributed? How can I choose foods that contribute to my health and enjoyment and that of my family and friends?

The power to change our food system, and our world, is within each of us. Every time we eat and drink, we vote for the world we want to live in.

It’s Up to All of Us

We believe

our world is ripe for a change in the way we eat, drink, connect and do business. It’s our job to find new, more sustainable ways of working to better serve this expectation and help reconnect people with the food they eat, nourish lives and build a healthier world through food.

At Danone North America

we believe this requires a reinvention of our relationship with food. In fact, we’d go so far as to call it a food revolution—one for greater well-being—which we are eager and ready to boldly lead, together with consumers, retailers, farmers, suppliers and not-for-profits, to design, produce, market and consume food in new, healthier and more sustainable ways. Through this we are delivering on our mission to “bring health through food to as many people as possible.”

As part of the B Corp Community, Danone North America has joined a movement of like-minded companies working together to strengthen the role of business in driving social and environmental good for all.

We all have a stake in food.

– both for the fundamental needs it serves and also the enjoyment it brings us. The profound role food plays in unlocking the health of people and the planet is the central premise behind our parent company Danone’s signature, —One Planet, One Health— which invites others to join us in building a healthier world through food. This is the North Star to which we aspire and which is represented in our logo.

As part of the B Corp Community, Danone North America has joined a movement of like-minded companies working together to strengthen the role of business in driving social and environmental good for all.

Together we can B a Force for Good

From the very beginning, we made a bold commitment to nourish lives and sustain a healthier world through food by incorporating Danone North America as a public benefit corporation (PBC) and declared our first priority to become a Certified B Corp by 2020—a milestone we achieved in April 2018, two years ahead of schedule. Now, as Danone North America, we are the largest PBC and B Corp in the world: designations that demonstrate our desire to use business as a force for good, balancing our financial interests with the social and environmental benefits we want to create for people, their communities and the planet.

How we bring this commitment to life is a journey.

Of course, we are not perfect as there is much to be done to reach our vision. Important work is already underway from fighting climate change, driving more sustainable ingredient sourcing, advancing packaging recyclability, reducing waste, conserving water, ensuring animal welfare and engaging our communities in these efforts.

As the top organic food maker in the U.S., with pioneering organic brands, we work to find opportunities to apply our knowledge of sustainable practices across all of our businesses. Whether it is changing the way many of our non-organic foods and beverages are made by using fewer and more recognizable ingredients or incorporating and labeling non-GMO ingredients, we bring all of our businesses along on the path to better. To meet our aspirations, we need change-agents with creative minds and diverse ideas, with a shared passion for building a better food system for the future, as we make meaningful progress to fulfill our purpose. That’s why we created an independent advisory committee comprised of thought leaders in business, food, health and sustainability—chaired by Rose Marcario, CEO of Patagonia.

DANONE NORTH AMERICA JOINS THE B CORP MOVEMENT

Danone North America is proud to be a Certified B Corp joining a growing community of more than 2,400 Certified B Corps from 58 countries and over 130 industries working together toward one unifying goal: to redefine success in business.

Certified B Corps use the power of business to drive social and environmental change and are Certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. As a B Corp, and now re-branded as Danone North America, we measure how our practices impact our employees, our community and the environment, so we can truly embrace our future as one, unified Danone that aspires to be known for making a positive change to build a healthier world through food.

B Corp Certification builds on our many years of operating with people and planet in mind and celebrates the important work we already have underway, while guiding us in continuous improvement.

Our Larger Ambition

Danone North America is part of Danone, a leading global food and beverage company, and is the seventh Danone subsidiary to become a Certified B Corp. As more than 20% of the business, we are excited to play an active role in Danone’s global B Corp Certification journey.

We strongly believe in the idea of redefining success in business, particularly at scale, and see our opportunity to help make sustainable business mainstream and raise awareness of the B Corp movement with the more than 900 million people who choose Danone brands worldwide.

Because Danone believes being a B Corp and public benefit corporation is the business model for the future—and requires companies of all sizes to be successful—the company has been working with B Lab since 2015 to define a B Corp model for public-traded global companies. Its goal is to become one of the first food multinationals to obtain a global Certification, in keeping with the company’s long-time commitment to sustainable business and its dual-project of economic success and social progress. It also underscores Danone’s new One Planet, One Health signature, which acknowledges the interconnectivity of the health of people and planet and aims to inspire healthier and more sustainable drinking habits.